My Paradise: The Finnish Summer Home
View of Villa Flora from lakeside. Architect Aino Aalto, photo by Jari Jetsonen
Although the exhibit at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis, My Paradise: Finnish and Finnish-American Summer Architecture has just ended, it will be remembered during the long Northern winters of both countries. Summer homes, cherished places of relaxation and quiet retreat to nature, are important to Finns, Swedes, and Minnesotans alike.
My Paradise is a travelling exhibit of photographs and scale models of twenty Finnish architects’ own summer homes from the past century. Additionally, the work of Duluth-based architect David Salmela, photographed by Peter Bastianelli-Kerze, will add an element of Finnish-American architecture to the display at ASI.David Salmela is a Finnish-American architect who has gained an international reputation with his acute sense for natural materials, his sensitive siting, and his altogether unique feeling for space. Salmela grew up in Northern Minnesota inspired by Nordic influences, and despite receiving no formal architectural education has come to be the Upper Midwest’s most sought-after designer of homes. He has also created celebrated buildings enjoyed by the public, such as the Gooseberry Falls State Park Visitor Center and Wild Rice Restaurant in Bayfield, Wisc. The image above is at Brandenburg’s Ravenwood Studio, Ely, MN. Architect David Salmela, 1995, photo by Peter Bastianelli-Kerze.
A summer home holds a very special place in the Finnish culture — and in the hearts of Minnesotans. It is a place of relaxation and quiet retreat to nature. It is also a place where architects either further develop new ideas or crystallize essential themes from their other designs. Their own summer homes are very personal; like diary entries. Without the limitations — or funding — of a client, each designer realizes their own ideals and goals when designing their own summer homes.
My Paradise features the summer homes of twenty renowned Finnish architects, including Lars Sonck, Eliel Saarinen, Alvar Aalto, and Juhani Pallasmaa, and the structures included span approximately 100 years.
The “tupa” living room with a large fireplace forms the center of the villa. Architect Eliel Saarinen, photo by Jari Jetsonen
A Nordic Christmas commences on November 6, 2010 until January 16, 2011. The annual exhibit, A Nordic Christmas, brings together members of the local Nordic American community to decorate five rooms in the Turnblad mansion for the holiday season. These decorated Nordic Christmas rooms give visitors a taste of Christmas traditions in each of the Nordic countries: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Finland. As this year’s theme is “little people,” the rooms will note the tomtar, nisser, and other magical figures associated with each of the different Nordic countries.
Founded in 1929 by Swedish immigrant newspaper publisher Swan J. Turnblad, the American Swedish Institute is a historic house, museum and cultural center offering a variety of programs designed to celebrate Swedish culture. The Institute is housed in the former Turnblad mansion, which was built between 1904 and 1908 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
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